Almost a decade has passed since World of Warcraft Legion. Yet the community still raves about the “best zone of all time”.
World of Warcraft consists of quite a few zones – there are now over 100 different ones, and anyone wanting to quest through all of them will be busy for several months. However, the newest is not always the best, as many older zones are still fondly remembered by the community today.
Few areas are mentioned as often as Suramar from the Legion expansion. Even today, it remains highly regarded among WoW fans.
What makes Suramar so unique? Suramar was in many ways “different” from all the areas that came before it. Blizzard took several risks with Suramar, and almost all of them paid off:
- Suramar was one of the largest zones in terms of area.
- All quests in Suramar revolve around a single, major theme: The Shal’dorei people. Even side quests exclusively focus on this theme.
- Half of the zone consists of a large, vibrant city where one must move cautiously.
- There were numerous hidden quests that often took days or weeks to discover.
- A weekly event with an interesting progression system: The control over Nightborne and exploration of the ruins.
In addition, there’s the story of the zone. Suramar tells the tale of the rebellion of the Exiled against their ruler. You experience everything from the founding of the rebellion to recruiting new members and ultimately the first subtle, then targeted and open attack against the government of the Shal’dorei.
Additionally, Suramar was visually stunning. Whether it was the grand city, the outer forests, or the enchanted ruins of the tomb cities. Suramar was a serious, mystical zone that, thanks to a wide color palette, was nonetheless appealing and beautiful.
This is what the community thinks about Suramar: From time to time, posts appear in the WoW subreddit where players rediscover their love for Suramar – especially when leveling a character in Legion.
- “Suramar was incredible. Not only visually, but also the story was fantastic, and the quest design was great. Especially before flying was unlocked. The quests in the city where you had to avoid guards and maintain your disguise were just wonderful.” – MighyHydrar
- “If they turned the city into a world hub, I would bind every hearthstone there that I own. This is easily my favorite zone in the whole game and one of the few times I enjoyed daily quests, purely because of the aesthetics.” – jussa-bug
Has WoW tried to replicate a second Suramar? Yes, albeit on a smaller scale. Azj-Kahet was supposed to function similarly to the city of Suramar in terms of mechanics. Piece by piece, you stealthily navigate through the city, making increasingly more deals and intrigues to slowly but surely gain control and eliminate it.
What worked well in Suramar was doomed to fail in Azj-Kahet due to many small design decisions. For one, Azj-Kahet is visually less interesting – it’s dark and uncomfortable, which is further heightened by the cave design. On the other hand, Blizzard decided to allow flying right away. This eliminated any threat from guards, and exploration on foot was never necessary. This is something the community criticizes frequently:
I believe Blizzard will never create an experience like Suramar again. It feels like they tried with BfA (Dazar Alor and Boralus) and now with Azj-Kahet, but it’s just not the same.
From the aesthetics to the lore and the story, navigating through the zone made you interested in what you were doing and achieving. It didn’t simply end with a patch, but was a story told over several chapters and was also a bit time-gated (or tied to reputation). I believe they did this well, right down to the two dungeons and the raid Nightborne.
Of course, this was not perfect. The constant farming of ancient mana and the perpetual “An illusion! What are you hiding?” were very annoying, but Blizzard made it so that you cared about the city […] – something that really lacks elsewhere. – Subject_Proof_6282
Do you share this view on Suramar? Do you also believe it’s one of the best zones of all time? Or do some see it through rose-colored nostalgia and it wasn’t that great back then?
Something old has certainly aged – once everyone loved heirlooms, now they are almost worthless.
